Rejaul Karim Byron

The central bank has intensified its efforts to keep the exchange rate of the local currency stable in the face of rising demand for US dollars.

Farmers in Bangladesh sell most of their crops to meet their financial needs after keeping a small portion for the consumption of their families, according to a new survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

About 39.47 lakh establishments engaged in wholesale and retail trade, including motorcycle repair shops, contribute around 14 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The government has framed draft rules to allow local firms to set up subsidiaries or buy shares in companies in other countries with a view to facilitating investment abroad.

Bangladesh’s people have witnessed a huge surge in entrepreneurial spirit over the last couple of decades.

Inflation in Bangladesh increased for the third consecutive month in September as prices of both food and non-food items are showing upward movement, hurting the low-income people.

In a rare move, the government is not rushing into a $3-billion loan offer from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Bangladesh has received a huge amount of budget support from multilateral lenders to fight the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has officially abandoned its decade-long plan to build an expressway on the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, a crucial cog for the Bangladesh economy, under public-private partnership -- after shelling out Tk 100 crore on a feasibility study and getting a detailed design.

The government will pay $569 million as the first annual instalment against the loan taken from Russia for the construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant, the largest infrastructure development project in Bangladesh.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is expected to become operational from 2023, months ahead of the scheduled 2024 timeframe, said Shaukat Akbar, its project director.

Although fast-track projects had previously witnessed slow implementation for various reasons including the pandemic, they are now progressing gradually, according to a report.

Bangladesh is forecast to remain ahead of India in terms of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years to 2026 powered by buoyancy in remittance, exports and agricultural activities.

Bangladesh is taking on increasingly higher levels of debt to fund its infrastructure spending, crucial for the economy to level up to a middle-income one by 2041.

The World Bank in a report noted a gradual recovery in employment and earnings in Bangladesh, forecasting that the country’s poverty rate will come down to pre-pandemic levels in the current fiscal year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to take punitive action against those responsible for unusual delays and irregularities in a project for building a medical college hospital in Kushtia.

The government will spend an estimated Tk 17,000 crore this fiscal year to procure Covid-19 vaccines as it has secured access to around 24 crore doses from multiple sources.

The finance ministry is initiating a training programme on procurement and financial management procedures for officials of the Health Service Division (HSD) in a bid to improve their efficiency.

The sixth population census of the country is set to see further delays as the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has failed to conduct it as per schedule, although three years have passed since drawing up a master plan.

Overall inflation rose 18 basis points to 5.54 per cent in August owing to the rise in demand and the abnormal hike in transport cost following the reopening of the economy from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns, official figures showed.

Bangladesh will have to pay $188.4 million to the New Development Bank (NDB) as paid-up capital for being a member of the new international lender.